EOS-1D Pro observations

Tim, Thanks for that, and yes I did know about the CF for the histogram view. I've tried just about all the variations during a heavy year of D30 shooting so far. I shoot rapidly moving objects primarily, and it turns out that for my particular purpose I prefer to just see the image itself when I press the display button.

When I move to a new shooting situation, or make major changes in how I'm shooting at a particular spot, I use the histograms for the first few shots till I get things dialed in just where I want (and it looks like the 1D is going to be very, very good at that process). But when I'm actually dialed in and shooting, the thing I need most is a quick check occasionally to verify that my subject got framed the way I wanted.

After taking a long look at Rob's 1D writeup and the full body specs, I have to say the new machine is going to be one heck of a full-featured camera, regardless of the various shortcomings. I have no doubt it'll make outstanding images, but again the price is rather painful.

Does anyone know what the little button on the back of the 1D is (there are two, one for regular shooting, and one for vertical shooting) that has the little frame symbol with the inward-pointing arrows? I don't recall seeing that symbol before...

Amazing -- this thing hasn't even hit the streets yet and already we are getting the knockers and "could we have this brigade". If as it seems from the Spec this camera is going to blow away the nearest competitor - DCS 520 then IMHO it will have been well worth the wait. There never will be a perfect camera that suits everybody.
I question these gripes however

• LCD to check focus -- Do people actually do this -- the screens are too small to get any useful info anyway apart from the Histogram. With a couple of microdrives just take more shots and after transferring to computer delete the ones that are no good.
• NIMH battery -- until we see how long it lasts why complain. NIMH generates a lot less heat than LI and this could be an issue. A 3rd party battery might come out in any case.
• 6MP vs 4.1 -- I don't really think this is an issue -- you will get at least a 12 MB TIFF file from a 4MB RAW image. Judging by the D30 where people have reported obtaining excellent 20 X 32's I don't think this is an issue -- larger file sizes mean more processing etc. For a lot of pros the 4 MP resolution will be more than adequate if quality is comparable or better than D30.
• Too big -- around the size of EOS 1V. If you want rugged equipment it comes at a price -- not only financial. It has to be heavy. Most pro stuff is -- what about F1 -- It's like a tank[/list]Apart from autofocus and fps I really like
  • being able to use wide angle again (1.3X instead of 1.6)
  • IR devices
  • TTL flash etc etc.
  • choice of focussing screens I can now get a sort of graph paper type of screen (almost as per old T90). Don't like D30's focussing screen. I think there are about 25 different options available.
  • Spot metering -- big omission on D30 especially as this option is available on some consumer level cameras.[/list].
    Please give the thing a chance -- It's still not designed to replace your Hassy's etc yet (for those complaining about only 4.1 MP) but I bet you carn earn $$$'s with this one.
    Much as I love D30 I am sure I could have got more sellable shots with faster fps and the better AF this offers (I am getting older and find fast MF harder to do these days but for the younger ones YMMV).
    Good luck all -- just wish it was cheaper
    
    [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
    -r

[GuvNor]

In no way an I knocking the EOS -1D as it is the very tool I require to do my daily job. I am number one on my Pro dealer's list for this camera and have been since names were taken several months ago.

I make extensive use of the zoom facility on the D30 as do all of my colleagues with this camera. At the end of last night's Champions League match in Glasgow the manager of the home side - who was banished to the back of the main stand - jumped clean out of seat with delight at the final whistle. The picture was shot across the length of the pitch into the stand using a 400mm IS lens with 2x converter at 1/80th of a second on a monopod. A quick review looked ok but zooming in there was too much vertical blurring to make it a useable shot. Knowing the picture would not make the paper I had to shoot something else very quickly to capture the moment. Without the zoom I would have assumed I had it "in the bag" until the picture was loaded on the laptop afterwards.
Nikon have just added the LCD zoom feature to the D1x/h cameras due to it being a requested feature from D1 photographers so it seems strange for Canon to drop it in the EOS-1D.

As for the battery Canon states it will take 500 frames without a lens attatched and no review on the LCD, maybe 350ish in normal use. The D1h according to a feature on DPreview shot 1,200 frames on a single charge ( FWIW Canon has a 12v 1650mAh battery and Nikon uses a 7.2V 2000mAh ).

Nevertheless this camera addresses all of the shortcomings of the D30 and I look forward to putting it through many years of torture and abuse. Now I need an excuse to buy the 16-35 lens. Anyone want a Sigma 14mm???

[Dudley_Simons]

I think a few people are missing the point with the lack of LCD zoom review. i dont use it to check focus - I shoot a lot of group portraits - events type stuff and being able to use the screen to make sure that you really did get everyones eyes open is an absolute godsend.

The same goes for the video out facility. At some events I use a portable TV as a preview monitor so that I can check the image before I break the group up.

Much as I would like the extra pixels and all the other gizmos without one or other of the above features I just cant use it - and running it tethered isnt an option.

Please dont take my disappointment as a complaint - there is no point in complaining about something that cannot be changed.

regards


Dudley

Hi Dudley -- I do events as well -- Have you thought about using a PC card with a TV in / out facility to do the same thing rather than directly from the camera. I don't know what platform you are on but I find a Matrox G450 Twin head excellent together with a Hauppage TV card. There is plenty of software around that works where you can make viewable pix on TV screen.
Cheers -r

[PeterWhyte]

Perhaps I am just stuck on this point, I don't know, but Canon seem to have made some sacrifices (eg 4mp and no cmos) in order to acheive the holy grail of 8fps. BUT they say that we need lenses capable of fucusing and closing the diaphram at the same time to get 8fps. Are we all going to have have to buy recent lenses, and what fps rate will we get if we don't?
I agree about the zoom- it is the single best feature on the D30 IMHO

[Dudley_Simons]

Hi Jim

I am using Mac platform - but can switch to PC if needs be. However, the platform is not the issue, the problem is that I have jobs where I cant take a tv or computer and screen with me and the zoom review is then essential. I need speed, ease of use, reliability and minimal kit to have to lug around and set up - last week I had a job where ALL of my kit had to be carried by hand over 400 yards in the drizzle - the access I was expecting to be available was occupied by a huge marquee and there was no where to park even to unload, bugger.

Regards


Dudley